Demand #6

LISTEN TO ME
He called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all
of you, and understand.”—Mark 7:14

As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let
him hear.”—Luke 8:8

Take care then how you hear.—Luke 8:18

And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she
had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his
teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she
went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has
left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord
answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about
many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which will not be taken away from her.”—Luke 10:38-42

The entire life and work of Jesus is one great argument why we
should listen to his word. Page after page of the New
Testament Gospels pile up reasons to turn off the television and listen
to Jesus. Here are some of those reasons—and why so many
don’t listen.

NO ONE EVER SPOKE LIKE THIS MAN

Jesus’ ministry was so astonishing and so threatening that his adversaries
wanted him out of the way. So the Pharisees “sent officers to
arrest him” (John 7:32). But to their dismay the officers came back
empty-handed, not because Jesus had good bodyguards, but because
his teaching was so stunning. “The officers . . . came to the chief
priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why did you not bring
him?’ The officers answered, ‘No one ever spoke like this man!’”
(John 7:45-46). When they listened to Jesus, they could not follow
through with their mission to arrest him.

JESUS SPEAKS THE VERY WORDS OF GOD

When Jesus finished his famous Sermon on the Mount, “the crowds
were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who
had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29). This authority
was not because of a personality trait or a pedagogical technique.
The reason is much deeper. His words have authority and
power, Jesus says, because they are the words of God. “I have not
spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself
given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak”
(John 12:49). “What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me”
(John 12:50; cf. 8:28). “The word that you hear is not mine but the
Father’s who sent me” (John 14:24). Jesus’ words have authority
because when he speaks, God speaks. Jesus speaks from God the
Father and as God the Son.

JESUS’ WORDS SILENCE SUPERNATURAL POWERS

But the authority of Jesus’ words is not only the compelling power
of God-revealed truth. There is another dimension. It also carries the
force to defeat supernatural powers. Once when Jesus met a demon possessed man
he rebuked him and said, “Be silent, and come out
of him!” (Mark 1:25). When the demon convulsed the man and
came out, the crowd was amazed and said, “What is this? A new
teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits,
and they obey him” (Mark 1:27). This same power of Jesus’ word
healed leprosy (Matt. 8:3), deafness (Mark 7:34-35), and blindness
(Matt. 9:28-30). And most remarkable of all, with a simple word
three times Jesus raised the dead. “Little girl, I say to you, arise”
(Mark 5:41-42). “Young man, I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14-15).
“Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43-44).
JESUS HAS THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE
Therefore, Jesus’ words were life in more ways than one. They
could sustain physical life and restore physical life. But more important
than that they were the indispensable way to eternal life. It is a
wonderful thing to be raised from the dead—but not if you are simply
going to perish later in hell. The most precious thing about the
words of Jesus, and the most important reason to listen to him, is
that his words lead to eternal life.

Once when Jesus had finished teaching some hard things,

“Many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”
So Jesus said to the twelve apostles whom he had chosen, “Do you
want to go away as well?” To which Peter responded, “Lord, to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:66-
68). This was not mere enthusiasm for a charismatic teacher. Jesus
confirmed Peter’s judgment: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh
is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life”
(John 6:63). Jesus agrees. He speaks the words of eternal life.
Everyone who wants eternal life should listen to the words of Jesus.
How do Jesus’ words give eternal life? We have already seen that
eternal life comes through believing in Jesus: “This is the will of my
Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him
should have eternal life” (John 6:40; see Demand #4). The reason the
words of Jesus lead to eternal life is that they awaken this faith. Belief
in Jesus does not come by the waving of a magic wand. It comes by
hearing the word of God through Jesus.

JESUS’ WORDS AWAKEN FAITH

One of Jesus’ most important parables was about sowing seed on
four kinds of soil. The seed represents the word. One kind of soil is
the trampled path where the seed falls and the birds snatch it away.
Jesus explains it like this: “The ones along the path are those who
have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from
their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12).
What this shows is that Jesus sees his word as the key to believing
and being saved. If the word is taken away, there will be no faith in
Jesus. And if there is no faith in Jesus, there will be no salvation—
no eternal life. First comes hearing the word of Jesus, then comes
belief in Jesus, then comes eternal life. “Whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life” (John 5:24).

The reason Jesus’ words awaken faith in him is that they reveal
who he really is and what he does to obtain eternal life for us. We
see the glory of Jesus and the all-sufficiency of his work through his
word. But not everybody does. Some hear his words, but do not
hear them as true and compelling. They see what he is talking
about, but do not see it as beautiful and convincing. So Jesus said,
“This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do
not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand”
(Matt. 13:13).

WHY DO THEY NOT HEAR AND BELIEVE?

Why do so many people not hear what Jesus is saying? Jesus said
to his most bitter adversaries, “You seek to kill me because my
word finds no place in you” (John 8:37). That is a striking phrase:
“My word finds no place in you.” Their minds and hearts are shaped
(or stuffed) in such a way that when he speaks, what he says won’t
fit in their hearts. This seems to imply that there is a certain readiness
for Jesus’ word that goes before his word and enables us to hear him.
That is in fact what Jesus teaches.

When Jesus was on trial at the end of his life, Pilate pressed
him to confess that he claimed to be the king of the Jews. Jesus
responded by saying, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose
I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth” (John
18:37). Jesus came to speak the truth. His words are truth. Pilate
responded cynically, “What is truth?” In other words, there was
“no place” in Pilate for Jesus’ words. But that did not take Jesus off
guard. Nor did it mean that Pilate had hindered God’s plan. Jesus
had the final and decisive word about Pilate: “Everyone who is of the
truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).

So now we have another striking phrase—not only, “My word

finds no place in you,” but also the even more remarkable phrase,
“Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” On the one hand,
there are people whose hearts and minds have no room for the voice
of Jesus. And on the other hand, there are people who are “of the
truth.” They listen to Jesus. They do have room for his word. There
is, you might say, a truth-shaped readiness to hear the voice of Jesus.

WHOEVER IS OF GOD HEARS THE WORDS OF GOD

Jesus describes these two kinds of listeners with two other phrases:
If they do not hear they are not “of God,” and if they hear they are
his “sheep.” The non-listeners he describes like this: “Whoever is of
God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them
is that you are not of God” (John 8:47). Now we have three descriptions
of the non-listeners: they have “no place” for Jesus’ word, they
are not “of the truth,” and they are not “of God.” This is a sobering
revelation. It means that our condition as fallen sinners unfits us for
hearing the truth—especially as it comes from Jesus.

We are not neutral like a metronome wand poised straight up

between truth and error—waiting dispassionately to be inclined to
one side or the other. No, we are heavily tilted toward selfishness and
all the errors that support it. When Jesus speaks, unless God acts to
give us ears to hear and eyes to see, there will be no place in us for
the words of Jesus.

This explains why Jesus said:

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden
these things from the wise and understanding and revealed
them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious
will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and
no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father
is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him. (Luke 10:21-22)

When he had said this, he turned to his disciples and said, “Blessed
are the eyes that see what you see!” (Luke 10:23). Blessed indeed!
Blessed by God. This seeing is the work of God. Only God can give
us eyes to see and ears to hear. That’s why Jesus says that those
who do not listen to his words are not “of God” (John 8:47). This
is the blessing we desperately need—the blessing that God would
make in our hearts a place for the truth.

“MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE”

Finally, Jesus calls those who do have a place for truth his sheep:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”
(John 10:27). Therefore, we can know we are his sheep if we listen
to his voice. We know we are his sheep if there is a truth-shaped place
for his word in our hearts, and we welcome what he says.

Therefore, I urge you on behalf of Jesus, listen to his word. Be

like Mary and sit at his feet (Luke 10:39, 42). Don’t turn away
from the command of his Father given on the Mount of
Transfiguration: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased; listen to him” (Matt. 17:5). Don’t miss the merciful attraction
in the words, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). Don’t hate yourself by rejecting
the one who said, “These things I have spoken to you . . . that your
joy may be full” (John 15:11; cf. 17:13). Listen to Jesus.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What does Jesus mean when He says "Listen to Me"?

2. Why does Jesus say "Listen to Me"?

3.How? What actions show that we to "Listen to Jesus"?

4. in 2-3 sentences summarize your "take home" lesson.